DRAUPADI
– ‘AGNIJYOTSNA’
Bangalore city one of the most sought
after destinations in the southern part of the country for various reasons is
quite on its way to becoming, if not already, a city of classical art too what
with many a Festivals of repute, rich content, fabulous performances marking
the annual calendar consistently the past few years.
The two day Utsav meticulously
designed gave the art lovers an opportunity to see good performances of
Kuchipudi art form which would be ethced in their memory for a very long time,
particularly the premiere of ‘AGNIJYOTSNA’ – ‘The Epic Queen ‘Draupadi’.
It is really amazing that how ‘Mahabharatha’
which has been so prolifically portrayed in various mode and channels right through the ages still holds the audience
in awe and wonderstruck with its relevance even in the contemporary times with
the larger than life characters of the Epic. The emotions, predicaments, the ironic
twist of fate, the folly of human efforts, Divine guidance, and among all the
interpretations of various authors continue to influence the exploring minds of
individuals for centuries now.
SHRI
NALLAN CHAKRAVARTHULA JAGANNATHA ACHARYULU
The composer of Draupadi – ‘AGNIJYOTSNA’,
Shri Nallan Chakravarthula Jagannatha Acharyulu’s rich lyrics with high
literary values touched the heart of the matter and lucidly brought out the true
character of Draupadi, her sensitivity, dignity, forbearance and above all the
purpose of her role in the great epic.
The appealing idea of AGNIJYOTSNA to
bring out the depth of the essence of the character in a simple but in entirety
required deft handling of the subject. In this regard, Shri N C Jagannatha
Acharyulu acknowledges that to elucidate the character of Draupadi, his
interpretion are in the same lines to that of Tikkana, Yerra Pragada, Nanaiah
and of course the original primary author Rishi Vyasa’s approach to the epic.
The Pravesa daruvu saw the
introduction of the personality right from her youth and brought out the mental
status of a princess waiting for her Swamyavara and the impending start of the next
stage of her life.
Draupadi’s destiny to have five
husbands dating back to events pertaining
to three of her earlier janma or births was delicately enumerated in one
song by the composer probably an eye opener to many in the audience who can
reel out the statistics of a cricketer or that of a film star but unaware of
the collosal giant of a personality who are part of our epics. How the
character of Draupadi in the epic was not accidental but the net effect of her
own samaskaras of earlier births did pass on the philosophical message subtly
‘One reaps what one sows’.
Draupadi as a consort of the Pandavas
was not found wanting, but her love for
Arjuna, who wins her by competing in disguise in the swamyavara is a well known
fact. Her special emotional attachment to Arjuna, being the first man in her
life was very delicately brought out in yet another song when she keeps her
dignified composure accepting Arjuna’s choice of marrying Subhadra adding depth
to the character. Also the fact that among all the wives of the Pandavas,
Draupadi’s extra calibre, special qualities made her earn the premier position
among them showcased the all round acceptance of her extraordinary nature.
Along with the Pandavas when Draupadi
too is bestowed with an opportunity to reach the doors of the heaven as a
mortal being, her love for Arjuna leads
to withholding of her ascendancy on the way in Swargaroga paravam, which as the
story shows that only King Dharamaja reaches the destination with his dog which
is none other than Dharmadevada.
Further the lyrics should be given
full credit for bringing out the Kshatriya Dharma distinctly in a few places
like how a Kshatriya is obliged to accept any challenge thrown at him and
accordingly Yudhishtra plays the game of dice. After all the subsequent events
led to the ignominy of Draupadi, King Dhritarashtra offers her three boons and
here too the lyrics brought out the Kshatriya Dharma, where in Draupadi only requests
for two boons – Release of Dharmaraja and all the Pandavas to be allowed to
have the possession of their weapons – Draupadi, as a Queen, could have easily
asked for the entire kingdom as the third boon but Kshatriya Dharma prevented
her from seeking so, since it has to be earned and won.
The exhasutive description of events
that led to the epic spelt out through excellent lyrics and composed to
mellifluous music, and added to the fact that the protagonist herself had to
establish the situation and portray the resultant emotions, did severely test
the choreography skills of Guru Vempati Ravi Shankar.
VEMPATI
RAVI SHANKAR
That Vempati Ravi Shankar comes out with
flying colours with his customary aesthetic choreography doing full justice to
both the lyrcis and the music and further added a remarkable midas touch to the
character, Draupadi –‘AGNIJYOTSNA’ thereby making it complete. It speaks volumes
of his skills, understanding of the subject along with the content and import
of the composer and delivering in its final shape for one and all to savour for
a long time to come.
Vempati Ravi’s choreography enabled
the audience to easily relate and visulaise the various other unseen characters
of the epic in the dance and turn of events that lead to the situation being
portrayed by the protagonist while bringing out the emotional aspects in full
purport and intensity for better understanding and appreciation.
Vempati Ravi’s aesthetic choreography
did have the trademark Vempati’s grammar structure and fluid moments easily
transporting one to the original scene of enactment of the epic like a time
machine would do.
It is a well known fact that ladies
are not allowed to visit the Yudha bhoomi nor the cremation site, but aptly
using the Logadharmi and Natyadharmi aspects Vempati Ravi did bring out out the
anguish and pain of the character losing all her children on stage and finally
lamenting whether the inevitable revengeful war waged was really worth it at
all.
SRI
NALLAN CHAKRAVATHULA BUCHAIAH ACHARYULU
Sri Nallan Chakravathula Buchaiah
Acharyulu’s, a violin artist, music composition to the wornderful lyrcis was
literally music to the ears so to say. He very whole heartedly acknowledges the
rich content of the lyrics enabled him to compose such higher standard of music.
He has carefully ensured that the ragas are not repeated and the usage of ragas
was unique and supplemented the lyrical content to derive the necessary
emotions, rasa and bhava easily at each stage of the performance.
Sri N C Buchaiah Acharyulu, further
adds that generally lyrical poems do on their own have a natural laya rhythm,
and right usage of the same by Shri
Nallan Chakravarthula Jagannatha Acharyulu made his task of selecting the ragas
much easier as it fell in place very perfectly to go with the situation and the
character portrayed.
In Pravesa Daruvu, he used Raga Malika
followed with Khamboji, Mohanam, Nridhara Madhayam, Deva gandhari, Bhegada,
Hindola, Hamsanandi, Kalyani etc to bring out the essence of the character in
various situations that was portrayed.
Only value addtion which one can think
of with regard to music was that, since the protagonist was herself a Princess,
Queen, an incognito lady, a mother showcasing varied emotions, thought process,
deliberations, etc., rendering of the songs by a Female singer would have been more apt and probably
welcome more wholeheartedly.
DEEPA
SASHINDRAN
Portrayal of such a character does
require a mature and an understanding artist who needs to not only keep within
the boundaries but also yet effectively
complete the picture that the lyrics, music and choreography have so
meticulously brought to life for the viewing pleasure of the audience.
For some one who has come out of a
long hiatus, Deepa Sashindran, senior most disciple of Guru Manju Bhargavi,
took up the challenge of both producing and enacting Draupadi and almost
performed it to perfection with aplomb. Her maturity, dedication to excel and
understanding the need to match to the rich standards set by the lyricist,
music composer and the choregrapher did enable her to live upto the expecations
of the audience. An commendable effort right through by Deepa Sashindran kept
the performance touch the hearts of the audience through the character
portrayed.
One gentle reminder to the artists of
the city of Bangalore, when it comes to at least Programs, Festivals organised
pertaining to the art form followed by them, it would be both courteous and
great opportunity to encourage and augment the learning process respectively by attending the
same and making their presence felt along with their students if any. After all
there are no better substitutes or opportunities available when it comes to adding
to the learning curve of the students by attending Festivals of calibre dished
out such as the Natya Parampara Utsav 2014 by the Kuchipudi Parampara Foundation,
Bangalore. Hope the cue would be taken in the right spirit and transpired to
action by the artists, while time is only the answer, for those who were
witness to the premiere of DRAUPADI – ‘AGNIJYOTSNA’, it was after all a treat
which they would remember and vouch that the play itself would become more
popular and withstand the test of time!
SUDHA
SRIDHAR
email:sudhasridhar@hotmail.com
agnijyotsna, vempati ravi shankar, nallan chakravathula buchaiah acharyulu, deepa sashindran, report, sudha sridhar, june2014, (C), do not copy, copyrights acknowledged, kuchipudi parampara, natya parampara, may2014,NALLAN CHAKRAVARTHULA JAGANNATHA ACHARYULU, contributor, bangalore
